Connecting people working within the same industry is always an interesting one… I am currently working on a market sector initiative for the North West Development Agency, and also seeing market sector groups develop within Striding Out, so at the moment I am exploring approaches to mobilising these market connections in the most effective and productive way!

At first some entrepreneurs can be adverse to it, as they feel a threat of sharing knowledge and ideas with competitors, but at the same time it also opens a forum for sharing experience and collaboration, to help improve the quality of business performance. Networking with others within the marketplace can mobilise partnerships for bulk-buying or tendering for procurement contracts, it may stimulate mergers to generate new commercial strands or investment raising, and it also encourages innovation and raises benchmarks for the industry.

For example two entrepreneurs working in the same industry could share alot about their experience of marketing channels! It’s one of the best routes for wasting money when you run a business so sharing knowledge of the most effective marketing routes is always a good idea….at the end of the day it’s not going to be the marketing channel that win’s you the business, it’s going to be your brand and the quality of the business behind it.

I think it’s important to remember that the sea is big enough for everyone and there are plenty of fish to catch, the emphasis has to be on creating your own individual brand and quality of service that makes your business appeal to the audience you want to attract. The best will come out on top….healthy competition can help to raise the quality of your service.

One of the other strands emerging from this work, is the importance of campaigning tools to raise a profile of a market sector with a focus on Strategic PR. This is particularly relevent to the social/ethical enterprise sector as they set out to make a positive difference. Campaigning is a tool that Anita Roddick used to launch the Body Shop from an high street cosmetics shop to an international cosmetics brand.

Within Striding Out I am really excited to see the emergence of one particular market sector focussed on Responsible Tourism. Within the community, we have entrepreneurs directly running or selling responsible travel holidays including Amy from www.bespokeexperience.com , Ben from www.tribewanted.com , and Tom from www.travelroots.com . We have campaign and awareness raising entrepreneurs including Helen from www.globalsense.org.uk and Stephen from www.maketravelfair.com and we also have entepreneurs who have previously worked for Tourism Concern and Responsible Travel. Together they are sharing experience, expertise and connections, and it’s the start of a pool of passionate influential individuals who are collaborating to campaign on responsible travel practices.  

At Striding Out we see it as our role to connect people who are working in similar industries to mobilise this pool of expertise and passion and to encourage shared working and campaigning, to make a greater impact than working alone.

Best Wishes

Heather Wilkinson, Director of www.stridingout.co.uk